Federal funding cuts could hurt JFCS food pantry
The pantry relies on a supply of shelf-stable milk, produce and other food from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which estimates a 13% loss of its annual distribution,
Jewish Family and Community Services’ Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, one of the only local food pantries providing kosher and halal food, is facing threats of increased costs and fewer options after federal funding cuts.
It’s another hit to the nonprofit social services organization after it received a stop work order for its resettlement program, one of many sent to agencies across the country, earlier this year.
The 25-year-old pantry relies on a steady supply of shelf-stable milk, produce and other food from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which estimates a loss of over 6 million pounds of food a year, 13% of its annual distribution, as a result of United States Department of Agriculture grant cuts.
Since July, the food pantry has gotten around 3,500 pounds of dairy and 7,000 pounds of fresh produce from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s USDA-funded supply, according to Jesse Sharrard, JFCS food pantry director. Most of JFCS’ food comes from the food bank.
The JFCS food pantry is one of more than 1,000 Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank partner organizations, and not the only Jewish partner in Allegheny County. The Aleph Institute is also a pantry partner, but the food bank’s Director of Government Affairs Colleen Young said partners have yet to see an impact.
“We have been working diligently to make sure that the cuts that we have experienced have not trickled down to our pantry partners,” she said.
The USDA eliminated the $500 million Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program that distributed local farm-grown food to food banks and paused $500 million in funding from the Emergency Food Assistance Program which provides food to low-income households.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is appealing the LFPA cut, but advocates are bracing for the impact of lost USDA funding on the people who need it most.
“They’re in line at the food pantry, and there’s less food to go around — all of these things are directly damaging and harmful to people who need help — and the bottom line is that those cuts are unnecessary,” said Ken Regal, executive director of the food justice nonprofit Just Harvest.
While JFCS pays for some food from the food bank, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank gives USDA-funded food to partners at no cost. Losing that funding means JFCS would have to start paying for food it used to get for free.
Sharrard can’t predict what will happen beyond increased costs, but he predicts the first items to go will be non-necessities that enhance meals, such as condiments and syrup for pancakes.
“As far as we’re concerned, we would have to start purchasing more — depending on how much more we would need to purchase and what the costs are — or it may mean that we would need to reconsider our inventory,” he said.
The pantry is already seeing increased demand.
Typically, between 350 and 400 households use the pantry every month, with higher rates over the holidays. But this year, the numbers didn’t drop after the holidays. Instead, the pantry is serving more than 400 households every month.
“A lot of the uptick is in returning clients,” Sharrard said. “Historically, not every client necessarily relies on our services every month. We see more and more of our clients in a situation where they are coming back on a monthly basis.”
Pantry users can receive a week’s supply of food in a premade bag once a month. Some demographics, however, can go into the pantry and select their own food, including people living in the 15217 ZIP code and kosher households.
And for those families keeping kosher it can be even harder to get food on the table. Kosher foods are much less likely to be produced on the mass scale needed for surplus to end up in pantries, Regal said.
“It’s more expensive at the consumer level, so there are more burdens on a household budget,” Regal said. “And it’s not optional for our friends who follow kashrut, it’s not optional for people who follow halal rules. It’s a fundamental part of who they are.”
The pantry, open five days a week at 828 Hazelwood Ave., stocks long-lasting, staple food options: canned fruit and vegetables, cereal, boxed meals, rice and pasta. The pantry also provides household essentials such as soap, laundry detergent and pet food.
“We’re able to stock up on things like canned beans, dried beans, dried fruit, shelf-stable milk and have these staples on hand in a way that helps us to make sure that we have the money available on an ongoing basis to purchase those other items that don’t fit in,” Sharrard said.
Since it receives USDA-funded shelf-stable milk from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the limited refrigerator space can be used for fresh produce also obtained through the food bank’s USDA funding.
If the pantry were no longer able to obtain shelf-stable milk, it would be difficult to provide the same quantity of milk that needs refrigeration, but Sharrard anticipates being able to purchase the shelf-stable milk with cuts elsewhere.
In a newsletter in late March, JFCS called on supporters to contact Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick and Mayor Ed Gainey to advocate for the USDA funding. Gainey did not respond to a request for comment.
“We step in so that people are able to keep going,” Sharrard said. “Food is the most basic of needs. If there’s less supply available to us through the assistance of the federal government, that doesn’t mean that the people who rely on us stop eating or need to eat less. That just means that we need to look more places in order to make sure that they can continue to be healthy.” PJC
Abigail Hakas is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
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